The Horn, featuring Professor Philip Farkas

The French Horn, featuring Professor Philip Farkas, was originally produced and released in 1984 by William G. Paulick for The Brass Emporium (Juneau, Alaska). The IHS has purchased the rights to this video as a service to its members, and divided the original two-hour video into eleven segments corresponding to the original eleven "lessons" filmed by Paulick.

The opportunity to hear the thoughts of such a luminary of horn history provides wonderful insights into why Philip Farkas, a legend in the horn world as a player and teacher, was so respected. As one will see, his warm personality is more evidence of why so many of his students loved him and appreciated his wisdom and guidance. Those who are familiar with Farkas's seminal book, The Art of French Horn Playing, will find some familiar themes (well, it is the same person!), but the chance to hear these "pearls" directly from the source is heart-warming and even more profound.

The IHS Advisory Council hopes that members will appreciate this service and encourage students and other younger generations to get in touch with a part of horn history.

Jeffrey SnedekerPresident, IHS

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Lessons

Timing

1: The History of the Horn (with demonstrations)

~12:30

2: Why the Horn? and Choosing Equipment

~6:00

(why people might choose the horn and what equipment to choose)

3: Playing Position, Use of the Right Hand, Relaxation, Concentration

~10:00

(playing while sitting/standing; right hand position; ways of focusing/concentrating)

4: Embouchure, Tone Quality, Physical Fitness, Correct Breathing

~10:00

(embouchure basics and its impact on tone; the effects of bell direction and right hand position; physical fitness of lips and body; basics of good breathing)

(developing a three-octave range, a dynamic range; how to build endurance; how to reduce or balance mouthpiece pressure; reasons for accuracy problems and ways of improving accuracy)

8: Interpretation, Phrasing, Style

~10:00

(how we play music-grasping what the composer had in mind and interpreting it; identifying "important" notes and using intensity to assist in phrasing (sentence analogies); understanding differences in style)

9: Transposition

~6:00

(explanations where it came from and how to do it, including interval and clef methods)

11: Performance Etiquette, Pre-Concert Anxiety, Solos, Career in Horn Playing

~10:00

(working well with colleagues; understanding and working with/in spite of "jitters"; sample solos: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 and Wagner Short Call from Götterdämmerung; horn playing as a career or as a hobby)